


Dare to Be So Bold

by RushingHeadlong



Series: And You Shall Be A Queen [1]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Trans Brian May, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 19:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RushingHeadlong/pseuds/RushingHeadlong
Summary: It’s almost time for Queen’s first show since Maggie May came out - but now that she’s here, she isn’t sure if she’s really ready to do this.
Series: And You Shall Be A Queen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215785
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Dare to Be So Bold

**Author's Note:**

> I see your fem!Queen AUs and raise you: transfem!Queen AUs.
> 
> Small disclaimer on this fic that I’m transmasc, not transfem, so if I got any details horribly wrong please correct me so I can fix it!

“I can’t do this.”

It’s not the first time Maggie has said that since the soundcheck earlier that afternoon, but as the time ticks down until Queen has to take the stage she only feels more and more panicked. It’s the first show of the new tour and the first time Maggie will be performing as herself since she publicly came out a few months ago. She thought she was ready for this but now the thought of walking out in front of that audience absolutely terrifies her.

“Yes, you can,” John says calmly from across the dressing room. They’re all so familiar with Maggie’s anxieties about this that he doesn’t even look up from tuning his bass as he says it.

She shakes her head, curls flying around her face. “I _can’t!”_ Her movements make her bandeau slip down again and she huffs in frustration as she tugs it back into place. “I can’t even keep my clothes in place when I’m just standing here! If I go out on stage like this I’ll end up flashing everyone!”

The fact that she hasn’t been taking estrogen for long enough yet to really give her anything to flash is entirely besides the point - and thankfully, her bandmates know better than to point that out to her right now.

“You won’t end up flashing anyone,” Freddie reassures her.

She scoffs and Freddie gently grabs her shoulders to hold her still and make her listen to him.

“You _won’t_ ,” he says firmly. “Phoebe’s run out to get some tape to keep everything right where it’s supposed to be. Your outfit will be sorted out in no time, don’t you worry about that.”

Maggies gnaws on her bottom lip as Freddie talks. He has a point, she knows that, but still…

“Maybe I should just wear one of my old shirts instead,” she says.

Freddie frowns at her and says, “Please tell me that you didn’t actually bring your old wardrobe along with you.”

Maggie’s glances away from him. Freddie sighs softly, and Maggie can feel her stomach twist at how disappointed he sounds.

“Mags, darling, at least give Phoebe a chance to work his magic before you go changing your entire outfit,” he says, his voice soft and gentle as he tries to make her see reason. “If he can’t sort this out, or if you still aren’t comfortable with how you look, then we’ll find something else for you to wear. But don’t change into something else now just because you think that’s what our fans out there will want from you.”

There’s usually a comfort in having her friends know her so well. That familiarity was what had bolstered her confidence and given her the courage to come out them in the first place, and it’s been a lifesaver as she’s gone through the arduous process of coming out to the rest of the world as well. She’s thankful for their concern, and she knows that it’s better than many of the alternatives, but sometimes it’s still jarring to be so easily read like this.

“I never said that I cared about what our fans will think,” Maggie tries to deflect.

Freddie gives her a small, almost sad, smile and says, “You didn’t have to.”

He pats her once on the shoulder and then finally lets her go. Without that contact Maggie feels suddenly lost and she turns to watch Freddie cross the room to grab a drink, unsure of what to do with herself now. She needs something to ground her before her anxieties carry her away completely and it’s Roger who catches her eye, offering her an easy grin that quells her rising panic once more.

“Just remember, we sold out this tour _after_ you made your announcement,” Roger says. “If there’s anyone who isn’t prepared to meet Maggie May tonight, well, that’s entirely on them.”

“And they can go fuck themselves if they have a problem with you, honestly,” John adds.

His bluntness startles a laugh out of Maggie. “We can’t just tell our fans to fuck off!”

“Of course we can,” John says, and both Roger and Freddie nod in agreement. “If they have a problem with you, then we don’t need them supporting the band at all.”

It’s a sentiment that they’ve expressed before, and certainly Queen is big enough now that losing a few rotten apples from their fanbase shouldn’t affect the band’s future… but Maggie still struggles to shake the fear that it won’t be just a _few_ fans that they lose after all. Even Roger’s reminder that they still managed to sell out the entire tour only does so much to soothe her worries about how her appearance tonight will be received.

Her bandeau slips down again and she pulls it back into position with another frustrated sigh. Fixing her wardrobe won’t even make all of her worries go away, but it’ll at least be a good start.

Thankfully, it isn’t long before Phoebe returns with the promised dress tape. “Do you need help with that?” he asks her.

Maggie considers that for a moment before sighing and giving Phoebe a rueful smile. “Probably, yeah. If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

There’s no awkwardness as he helps her affix the bandeau in place with the double-sided tape. Everyone in this room has seen each other in worse states of undress than this, and it only takes a few minutes of adjusting before Maggie’s top is squared away. She rolls her shoulders and bounces a little, but the only things that move now are her necklaces and one of the sleeves of her overshirt which starts to unroll down her arm. Phoebe spots that and quickly rolls it back up, making sure it’s secure enough this time that it’s not going to go anywhere.

“Thanks,” she says, grateful. She wipes her hands on the front of her trousers and takes a deep breath before asking, “So. How do I look?”

“Wonderful,” Phoebe tells her without a second of hesitation.

Maggie bites her lip and glances down the length of her body. “Are you sure? I’m not sure that the gaff is working well enough, maybe I should actually tuck…”

“The gaff is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do,” Phoebe assures her. “And you’re showing off enough skin up top that no one is going to be paying attention to what’s between your legs.”

That’s not as much of a comfort as he probably thinks it is. “Is it too much then?” Maggie asks anxiously. “Should I button up my overshirt?”

“And cover up that lovely bandeau that Phoebe just helped you tape into place? Absolutely not.” Freddie walks back over and takes Maggie’s hands in his, stopping her from fiddling with with buttons on her shirt. “Leave your shirt open. It’s no more than you used to always show before.”

“No, but it’s different now,” Maggie says. It shouldn’t be, but she knows that it is.

“The only difference is that your clogs are even more questionable with your new outfit than they were before,” Freddie says. It’s a joke, Maggie knows that, but her stomach is so tied in knots that she can barely manage even a weak smile in response.

Freddie sighs a little and gently spins Maggie around. “Alright then. Rog, Deacy, what do you think of how our Mags is looking?”

John glances up from his bass only long enough to give Maggie a quick look-over and say, “Great.”

Roger, meanwhile, takes a slightly different approach. “She looks hot,” he says, blunt and to the point.

Maggie chokes a little at his answer and she can immediately feel her face flush in embarrassment. John bursts out laughing, and Freddie gives Roger a scandalized look and hisses, “Roger, honestly!”

“What? She does!” Roger insists. “Just ‘cause she’s my friend doesn’t mean I’m suddenly blind, and just because she looks good doesn’t meant that I want to-”

“Yes, yes, alright, we get your point!” Freddie interrupts quickly.

There’s a small giggle that takes Maggie by surprise - and it takes her a second to realize that the laughter is coming from _her_. She can’t tell if she’s finally snapped under the stress or if she’s just relieved that even now, when it feels like everything in their lives has completely turned upside down, that some things are still the same. That John is still unflappable and Freddie is almost unbearingly kind and Roger is still, well, _Roger_. Her friends are the same, and even with a new tour and Maggie’s new insecurities this banter and these preparations are all fundamentally the same too.

She still has no idea how the audience tonight will react to her new appearance or how the music press will spin it when they print their reviews of the show - but she doesn’t have to deal with that uncertainty alone. Maggie always knew that, but something about seeing how easily her three bandmates roll with her anxieties makes it easier for her to finally _believe_ it and as she laughs she can feel the knot in her stomach start to unravel little by little.

“Feeling better?” John asks when Maggie finally stops giggling long enough to catch her breath.

“Yeah, I am,” she says. “And I’m s-”

“If that’s an apology, don’t you dare finish it!” Freddie tells her. “There’s not a single thing you have to apologize for here, not unless you make us late for the show or something like that.”

Freddie’s joke makes them all instinctively glance at the clock, and Roger curses loudly when they see the time - and see that they are, actually, running late.

“Fuck! Someone find Stickells, and figure out why the hell he didn’t come get us!” Roger snaps as he pulls on his sweatbands and hurries for the door, with John right on his heels.

Maggie hesitates, just long enough to glance at herself in the mirror one last time. The person that stares back at her isn’t that much different from how she looked on the last tour before she came out. Her hair is the same and the changes to her body have been subtle so far - but there _is_ an unmistakable difference to her now, something that can’t be attributed to just her makeup or the slightly more feminine slant to her wardrobe.

It’s a something that defies words and explanations but that, ultimately, is what makes her _Maggie_ rather than the person she pretended to be before.

And it’s now a _something_ that the Queen audience is going to see up close for the first time.

“Mags, darling, I _promise_ that you look fine, but we have to head to the stage _now_ ,” Freddie says urgently.

Maggie doesn’t know how to explain that she’s not hesitating because she’s still worried about her appearance, that for the first time that day she actually feels _excited_ for the show to start. So she just turns away from the mirror and says, “I’m coming, I’m on my way,” and lets Freddie usher her out of the dressing room.

She can already hear the audience as they approach the stage, and Maggie’s heart is racing with a familiar thrill as Jobby hands over her guitar. She glances around at her bandmates and the four of them all simply nod. Nothing more needs to be said, and Maggie takes a deep breath before she races out on stage and strikes her first chord of the show.

The crowd is almost deafening as they cheer and shout and applaud for the band - and for _her_ \- and to Maggie it seems like they’re somehow louder and more enthusiastic than she’s ever heard before. Freddie flashes her a smile as he launches into the first notes of the song and Maggie grins back, bright and wide and finally confident in herself, as she lets the music and the roar of the audience sweep her away.


End file.
